Webbing strip connector for metallic furniture



y 7, 1953 K. SCHWARTZ ETAL 3,088,517

WEBBING STRIP CONNECTOR FOR METALLIC FURNITURE Filed NOV. 8, 1961 INVENTOR. KENNETH SCHWARTZ BY ROBERTESUSSMAN ATTORNEY United States Pate 3,088,517 WEBBING STRIP CONNECTOR FOR METALLIC FURNITURE Kenneth Schwartz and Robert E. Sussrnan, Miami, Fla,

assignors to Medallion Corp., Hialeah, Fia., a corporation of Florida Filed Nov. 8, 1961, Ser. No. 150,952 2 Claims. (Cl. 1G0184) This invention relates to means for attaching webbing or straps to seat and back frames of chairs or other articles of furniture.

The webbing or straps used to form the seats and backs of furniture, and particularly furniture composed of wrought metal, such as wrought aluminum, is usually attached to the furniture by means of screws, bolts or rivets which require perforating of the webbing as well as the furniture and this not only results in the weakening of the webbing but in the side rails or other parts of the furniture to which the webbing is fastened. Also, the attachment of the fastening elements is a time-consuming operation.

It is therefore one of the objects of the present invention to provide a connector clip by means of which the ends of a web or strap forming the back or seat of a chair or the like, can be attached quickly and securely without the use of screws, rivets or other like fastening means.

It is an object of the invention to provide a clip or connector of the above mentioned type which will not require perforating or aperturing of the web or strap or of parts of the furniture; which when fitted in place on the chair will be hidden or concealed from view by parts of the web or strap, and which can be easily removed when replacement of any one or more of the webs or straps becomes desirable or necessary.

More particularly, the invention contemplates the provision of a channelled metallic clip having flanges which define a channel between them and into which a chair side rail is forced, and also provided with a second channel into which an end of the web or strap is fitted, which end part of the web or strap is grippingly held between flanges provided on the clip and which form the latter channel. The clip so fitted on the chair permits the web or strap to be extended from it and brought around the clip and side rail and over the top of the same so that the clip is covered and protected by the web or strap and is concealed from View.

With these and other objects to be hereinafter set forth in view, I have devised the arrangement of parts to be described and more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein an illustrative embodiment of the invention is disclosed,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a chair provided with seat and back webbing attached to means of the improved connector or clip;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view, taken substantially on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one of the connectors or clips, and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of one of the connectors or clips showing how one of the webs has an end inserted therein.

The drawing shows a chair that is typical of the type upon which Webs or straps form the seat and back. The spaced-apart webs or straps which form the seat are indicated at 2, while those which form the back of the chair are shown at 3. The webs or straps 2 and 3 may be of similar size and the same are preferably, but not necessarily, composed of a tough, flexible plastic material. The

3,088,511 Patented May 7, 1963 chair frame is preferably composed of wrought metal, such as aluminum.

The sides of the seat of the chair are defined by side rails 4 and 5 of similar cross-sectional size and shape, the same being of square or rectangular cross-section. The sides of the back of the chair are defined by the vertical bars 6 and 7 which are also of square or rectangular cross-section.

The connectors or clips 8 which attach the webs or straps 2 and 3' to the seat rails 4 and back bars 6 and 7 respectively, are of like construction, and one of them is disclosed in FIGS. 3 and 4. Each of these connectors or clips 8 is preferably com-posed of extruded aluminum or other suitable metal and it includes a top web 9* and a pair of spaced flanges 10 and 11 extending at right angles thereto and integrally formed therewith and defining a channel 12 between them. The channel 12 so formed is of a size to enable the same to snugly or tightly fit over the side rails 4 and 5 or back bars 6- and 7, substantially as shown in FIG. 2.

Also formed on the connector or clip 8 is an end flange 13 which is so spaced from flange 11 as to provide a channel 14 between it and said flange and into which channel is tapered end 15* on any of the webs or stnaps 2 and 3 is fitted. The inner surfaces of the flanges 11 and 13, or those surfaces of these flanges which face toward one another, are toothed, serrated or otherwise irregularly formed or roughened as shown at 15 to thereby provide gripping instrumental-flies to resist withdrawal of the end 15 of the web or strap that is inserted into the channel 14 between the flanges 11 and 13. The connector or clip 8 may, if desired, be slightly thickened or reinforced in the web 9, as shown at 16 in the area of the channel 14. The inside end portion of the flange 13 may be slightly bevelled as shown at 19', if desired, to facilitate the entry of the end 15 of the web into the channel 14.

A connector or clip of this kind may be readily fabri- 'cated by being made in lengthy strip form of extruded aluminum and the strip then cut ofl? in suitable clip lengths. Each of the webs or straps 2 or 3 is provided with one of the connectors or clips at each of its ends, each end 15* of the web being inserted into the channel 14 between the flanges 11 and 13 and the flanges then compressed toward one another, or the outer flange 13 forced toward the flange 11, to cause the end of the web or strip to be gripped between these flanges and the teeth 15 thereon to bite into the opposite faces of the web and securely anchor the end of the same in the channel 14.

The manner in which the clips or connectors are fitted on the parts of the chair will be noted in FIG. 2 wherein it will be seen that one of the clips or connectors, for example that shown at the left in said figure, is forced down on top of the rail 4 which fits tightly within the channel 12 of the clip and is firmly gripped between the flanges 10 and 11 thereof. The web or strap is then brought around the under side of the rail 4 .and then upward around the outer side of the same and then across the top to reach the opposite side rail 5 of the chair. The second clip is attached to the side rail 5 in similar manner. That is -to say, it is forced :down on the top of the rail 5 to fit thereon substantially as shown at the right in FIG. 2. The attachment of the clips or connectors in the manner described and as shown in the drawing, may be facilitated if the plastic webs or straps are softened by heat or otherwise during the fitting of the clips on the parts of the chair, and upon the placement of the straps or webs on the chair, the restoration of the straps or webs to their normal condition will result in the webs or straps being stretched tautly across the seat or back of the chair. Since portions of the straps or webs extend across the tops of the clips or connectors, and the webs or straps are tensioned from one clip to another when a person is seated on the chair, the clips are held from rising movement or displacement.

The disposition of the connectors or clips in respect to the webs or straps is such that neither the webs nor furniture parts require the formation of apertures through them likely to cause weakening of the webs or furniture parts. When the connectors or clips are fitted in place as above described, they not only securely fasten the webs or straps in place but they .are hidden or concealed from view and prevented from contacting with a person seated on the chair. Also, the laborious and time-consuming attachment of the webs by screws or rivets is eliminated and the replacement of one or more of the webs when required is greatly facilitated.

While we have herein shown and described the improved connector clip as being specifically employed for the attachment of seat and back webs or straps to a chair, it will be apparent that the same may be used on other articles of furniture or wherever the attachment of webs or straps is found desirable or necessary.

The present invention is a distinct improvement over the method heretofore employed for attaching webbing strips to metallic furniture such as the webbing strips that have heretofore been spirally wound in a continuous strip from one rail to the other back and forth to constitute a seat or a back, requiring an unnecessary yardage of material for the operation and has been found objectionable from a standpoint of ventilation and possibly the collection of water upon the lower flights of the strips especially, in the scat portions. The invention also contemplates the use of various metals for the furniture and is not restricted to wrought aluminum nor is the invention restricted to the extruded aluminum clips. The clips may be formed of plastic or other materials and the terminal ends of the strips 2 may be suitably chemically bonded to the clips or possibly mechanically riveted or otherwise attached.

As will be apparent from the foregoing, we have provided a clip which can be easily fabricated; which provides a pair of separate parallel channels, one of which fits on the chair and the other of which receives the web and grippingly holds it.

Having thus described a single embodiment of the invention, it is obvious that the same is not to be restricted thereto, but is broad enough to cover all structure coming within the scope of the annexed claims.

What we claim is:

1. An article of furniture including side rails having a rectangular cross-section and a support, the improvement comprising strips of material forming said support, and clip means secured to the terminal ends of said strips of material for free receipt on said side rails without the use of extraneous fasteners, each of said clip means comprising a web including spaced flanges extending therefrom and forming adjacent channels opening in a common direction from said web, said strips being terminally secured in one of said channels, said other channel conforming to a portion of said side rails and being substantially filled thereby and being removably received over said rails, said strips being wrapped beneath said rails over the outer surface of said rails and over said clip means and said flanges for maintaining said support on said rails.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which said flanges forming said one channel including opposed friction increasing ribs on opposed inner surfaces thereof in clamped engagement on the terminal ends of said strips of material.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,425,089 Henry Aug. 8, 1922 2,871,926 Haschke Feb. 3, 1959 2,898,648 Bright Aug. 11, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 602,793 Great Britain June 2, 1948 

1. AN ARTICLE OF FURNITURE INCLUDING SIDE RAILS HAVING A RECTANGULAR CROSS-SECTION AND A SUPPORT, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING STRIPS OF MATERIAL FORMING SAID SUPPORT, AND CLIP MEANS SECURED TO THE TERMINAL ENDS OF SAID STRIPS OF MATERIAL FOR FREE RECEIPT ON SAID SIDE RAILS WITHOUT THE USE OF EXTRANEOUS FASTENERS, EACH OF SAID CLIP MEANS COMPRISING A WEB INCLUDING SPACED FLANGES EXTENDING THEREFROM AND FORMING ADJACENT CHANNELS OPENING IN A COMMON DIRECTION FROM SAID WEB, SAID STRIPS BEING TERMINALLY SECURED IN ONE OF SAID CHANNELS, SAID OTHER CHANNEL CONFORMING TO A PORTION OF SAID SIDE RAILS AND BEING SUBSTANTIALLY FILLED THEREBY AND BEING REMOVABLY RECEIVED OVER SAID RAILS, SAID STRIP BEING WRAPPED BENEATH SAID RAILS OVER THE OUTER SURFACE OF SAID RAILS AND OVER SAID CLIP MEANS AND SAID FLANGES FOR MAINTAINING SAID SUPPORT ON SAID RAILS. 